Kasuga
by furrydragons
Summary: "She drew her hand out, sticky blood dripping from her fingers, and watched him die." Kasuga is kidnapped from a prison by the Akatsuki. They want to use her to their own ends, but how long will she cope with being imprisoned again? Language/violence.


1.

The moon was missing, instead appearing as a dull red silhouette against a cloudless sky. The blue-skinned man studied it sullenly. Such a moon was a bad omen to common folk; a prediction of blood to be spilled and lives extinguished. The longer he looked at it, the smugger Kisame's expression became.

"Looks like we'll finally be getting some bloodshed." He spoke lowly to his companion. "Eh, Itachi?"

Itachi considered the celestial phenomenon as well, but chose not to reply, instead using a small tongue of flame from his palm to light a campfire between them. The fire caught quickly, throwing shadows across his apathetic features. If this has been their first mission, Kisame would've bristled with fury at the cool dismissal and challenged the younger man to a fight. But after their hours together reached triple digits and more, the pair became used to each others' characters.

_Still doesn't mean I've gotta like it. _Kisame humphed and muttered under his breath, looking at his partner across the fire.

"The mission," Itachi began quietly, "we are nearing the village where our target is located. We must capture the target with minimal resistance from the village's shinobi and return it _alive_ to Leader."

"Hah. You don't have to tell me." Before they had left the hideout, their Leader had made it very clear what would happen to them if the target was harmed. "What is our target anyway? A shinobi?"

Itachi reached into his backpack to consider a single sheaf if paper he produced from within. He frowned as his eyes skimmed through it. "It...does not say." At Kisame's disbelieving grunt, he gave the other man the information. Kisame didn't doubt the Uchiha's eyesight, but re-read the instructions nevertheless, turning the paper over to make sure. "Location...this is it? What the fuck is this? Pein is sending us on a wild goose chase with no details?"

"The information must've come from a trustworthy source."

"Trustworthy source, my ass." Kisame scowled, unable to accept Itachi's logic. He dangled the paper from one corner, and then threw it into the fire. Itachi seemed marginally opposed to this, but let the information burn away. It was useless after all; he could easily remember the location of their target: Kanemura, Land of Lightning.

They continued travel once the bad weather from the west masked the strange, red moon and allowed their approach to the village to be masked. With only a vague description of where to go once inside the village itself, the Akatsuki began wandering the streets, attempting to appear as inconspicuous as possible. However, this was easier said than done. With matching black uniform depicting crimson clouds, and straw hats hiding their faces, they were attracting more attention than they were deflecting.

Kanemura was a fairly small place, quite similar to other villages the Akatsuki had infiltrated in the past. Against a rocky backdrop swathed in mist, the sleepy town looked almost peaceful. The bad weather which had allowed Itachi and Kisame to get this far, was making the mist worse until they were wading through the streets as much as they were walking. At the centre of Kanemura stood a tall stony peak, the majority of rock invisible beneath a grand building carved from the stone. Kisame thought the place looked terribly weak and unsupportive with its delicately carved columns and balustrades. A good earthquake would topple the place right down onto the village below. As the clouds cleared for a brief moment and the moon appeared once again, it glinted redly off of the main cupola roof. Kisame, who had been staring distastefully at the structure as he walked, hesitated, conflicted between disgust and disbelief.

"They made the roof...out of _gold_?" he demanded of Itachi. The Uchiha, of course, replied with calm: "That is why they call it the Gold Village" to which Kisame uttered a low "Fancy". A small child ran across the street in front of them suddenly, and slipped in the mud, crashing to his knees. As the Akatsuki paused to a halt, it looked up at them with frightened eyes and then scrabbled up and ran to its mother, who stood several feet away with other women. Itachi resumed walking, sparing not a thought to the people now glaring at him, while Kisame stared back curiously.

"Am I missing something? What's everyone doing out in the middle of the night?"

As if to answer him, a muted bang sounded from the palace. The pair turned to investigate the source of the noise in time to see a colourful flower of light blossom in the night sky. Itachi's eyes followed the smoke trail from the firework to a large balcony, where, even from a distance, many people were visible milling around. _A celebration? _This could be useful. With a display as lavish as this, they had less chance to run into unwanted attention.

"Kisame." Itachi took a sharp right, heading for the palace.

"Where are we going?" Kisame quickly caught up, matching his partner's brisk pace with his larger legspan.

"The target is inside that building."

"There better be a reason for why we didn't go straight there."

Itachi half-turned his head towards his partner, fixing him with blood-red Sharingan. "Risk of detection was too high. However, that," his eyes turned back to the fireworks above them, "changes things."

Kisame followed his eyes. "Who has a party at this time?"

They arrived at the base of the rocky summit with the extravagant display still raging on above them. The smoke from the fireworks mixed with the ever-thickening mist was turning the air an opaque grey. Itachi glanced around, looking for a way inside the mountainous wall before them. With Sharingan activated there was nothing he couldn't see. Somewhere, there should be a hidden entrance, or the information Leader had was false. _There! _A barely concealed seal was plastered onto the mountainside, declaring "stop". Kisame noticed it a moment later, sending chakra to his feet so that he could clamber up the sheer rocky wall and swipe the seal from its resting place. "Gotcha."

The seal was detached, and a loud rumbling began from beneath the ground. As the Akatsuki watched, a thin black line appeared carved into the stone, revealing a hidden arch. The line glowed a blinding white, and Kisame turned away to shield his eyes. When he looked back, a black, depthless cave yawned at him. Itachi peered inside it for a moment, using his blood-red eyes to look for hidden traps. Kisame figured that he didn't find any, since the younger man strode straight into the darkness without saying a word. The dank, still air of the cavern swallowed him up, and Kisame followed after him.

The cavern could have been of any size or shape, but they could see neither wall nor ceiling of it. The darkness was like thick syrup, heavy on their skin. Kisame could hear his footsteps faintly, but those seemed muffled, as though even sound could not penetrate the gloom. When he began to feel as though he couldn't take it anymore, a tentative lick of a breeze touched his face. Somewhere in the near distance, a dull grey glow appeared.

"Here?" he muttered.

Itachi stopped beside a grille set into the rock wall at eye-height. Something behind it was causing the glow; a light of some sort. Without hesitation, the Uchiha placed his palm just beneath the grille. A moment passed before a black line cracked around his hand and spider-webbed outwards to reveal another hidden arch. The grille disappeared along with a section of the wall. The Akatsuki continued, finding themselves in a barely lit corridor which led to another dead end.

"What is this crap?" Kisame growled, itching for Samehada so he could just rip the rock apart with sheer force.

Itachi didn't reply.

Getting impatient with their progress, Kisame walked briskly, overtaking Itachi. When he reached the furthest wall, he slapped his palm against the rock, sending his chakra out. The hidden arches, he found, were operated by a mechanism inside the walls themselves. It proved to be incredibly easy to solve, and he laughed in victory when the black lines appeared again.

"Kisame..." Itachi breathed.

Once the latest arch appeared the grey light gave out. Kisame realised they hadn't discovered what was giving out that light in the first place.

"A silent alarm has been triggered," Itachi informed him, sharingan ablaze in the dark.

"Then this is the place." Kisame peered inside the arch.

He saw a cavernous room of gigantic proportion, the far wall at least three hundred meters away and the ceiling nearly invisible. Torches were set up around the perimeter, making all this visible, and lighting a small silhouette located directly in the centre of the room. He glanced at Itachi, who said nothing, and grasping the handle of his Samehada, ventured in.

When they reached the crumpled form, Kisame let out a low whistle. A woman was suspended in air, manacles around her wrists connected to chains which ran all the way to the darkened cave-roof. Kisame followed them with his eyes, unable to gauge their length. She was badly beaten. Blood crusted around her face, neck and arms and one of her eyes was swollen shut. Bruises littered her skin like wilted flowers.

As they neared, her eyes opened, regarding them in what could only be described as confused curiosity. She tried to move, but her arms were hanging uselessly above her and her feet didn't even touch the ground. Despite the state of her face, Kisame could tell from her body language that she was far more relaxed than he would expect. _Strange._

"Are you here to feed me?" She said weakly. She did look famished; ribs showed through the thread-bare shirt she wore. When they didn't answer, her throat moved in silent laughter. "To kill me, then."

Itachi studied her. Kisame thought something similar to surprise passed across his features. But with the apathetic Uchiha it was difficult to tell. When he spoke, Itachi was as calm as ever.

"Who are you?"

The woman ignored him completely, entire body racked in spasmodic laughs. "Have Hirohito's enemies finally found the reason for his power? Will they take their revenge?" She stopped laughing, staring at Itachi with her single good eye. "I will tell you how to kill him, if you want. I'd like to be there for the show, but I suppose fate is not so kind."

"What does Leader want with _her_?" Kisame muttered to his partner.

"Leader-?" she gaped, overhearing, "Then you're not-"

"We are members of the Akatsuki," Itachi said, "Our leader was contacted by a reliable source who claimed someone useful to us would be found at this location." He continued looking at her pointedly, hoping she would clarify her presence.

"Reliable source?" the woman's voice weakened once again, "No-one but Hirohito knows I'm down here, and he wouldn't give up this location for his life."

"Why are you chained up, then?"

Her dark eye slid to Kisame. "So that I can't escape."

"_Yes_," he barked, irritated, "But why doesn't this Hiro-whatever want you to escape?"

"You really aren't here because of him? Hirohito is the master of this village; he lives on this mountain, at the top. He protects his people with his astounding power."

Itachi picked up on her monotone. "You said before he had a reason for his power."

Again the silent laughter began. "You're looking at it." She claimed, "I don't know how your reliable source has found out about this place, but the useful thing you're looking for is right here."

"And in what way are you supposed to be useful?"

She sighed. "What you – and he – would consider useful, may not necessarily be useful. Hirohito uses me for my chakra reserve. If he takes my chakra he can be the most powerful person in Kanemura and in the Land of Lightning. And he is."

Kisame considered the woman more carefully; she looked uncharacteristically weak, even for a civilian, he could only sense the faintest trickle of chakra from her and beaten as she was, it seemed that she would pass out as soon as she was freed from her chains.

"I don't sense much chakra from you," he accused her. "Is this all? There are plenty of Akatsuki who have large chakra reserves, why would he need another useless body to lug around?"

"Of course I don't have any chakra left, that bastard drained me dry for his _party_." The last word was spat with vehemence he wouldn't expect to hear in a near-whisper. "Look, unless you're here to steal me from this god-forsaken place, you might as well just go already." She looked up at the chains confining her, and looked at the floor, already calm.

"We can't do that," Itachi murmured. He drew out a pair of kunai from the fold of his Akatsuki cloak, and approached the woman. She merely watched. Kisame looked on as the younger man aimed and threw the kunai up into the air, seemingly at nothing. A moment later, however, a loud metallic clank echoed through the cavern and the woman dropped to the floor with a grunt. She rubbed at her sore wrists hesitantly, as if trying to decide whether she was dreaming.

"Leader will decide whether she is useful or not," Itachi said to the air, turning to leave the way they had entered.

Kisame stared incredulously after him, still not comprehending how the wench could be useful to anyone, let alone the Akatsuki. He turned to glare at her, still sitting in the dirt, feeling the bones of her hands tenderly. When he reached over and picked her up by the scruff of her shirt, she fought off an instinctive urge to bat his arm away. "From one prison to another," He heard her whisper. Kisame threw her forward, forcing her to walk.

"I'm not going to carry you."

The woman looked back at him, her eyes infuriatingly similar to the Uchiha's in their indifference. She followed Itachi through the low arch, a slight limp to her gait. This slowed her considerably. Noticing, the younger man said "Do you require healing?"

She didn't look up. "There's no need. A broken bone has healed wrong. I'll reset it later."

After that, no one spoke for a long time, as they travelled back outside through the darkness, Itachi at the forefront, the woman in the middle, and Kisame bringing up the rear, constantly on the alert for escape attempts. He was sure she would try something in the dark, when they would be more disoriented than usual. But the woman simply limped after the Uchiha, as if resigned to her fate. Kisame itched for Samehada's hilt. Weaklings who pretended to be strong made him want to spill blood, but weaklings who admitted their weakness and did nothing about it were even more infuriating. And this wench was the weakest person he had ever met. He could barely sense the presence of her chakra, which seemed to flutter in and out of existence, as weak as drizzle.

Eventually, they stepped out into fresh air once again. The rain had cleared, leaving them with a melancholic view of the moon setting behind the castle on the rock. The fireworks were no longer firing; instead the small group were met with an unnatural silence. Kisame hefted Samehada in front of him, feeling the approaching chakra keenly.

"Kisame." Itachi murmured, tensing.

"I see 'em."

The woman remained silent, following their gaze.

A group of strangely dressed ninja appeared in front of them in formation. Seven, with three on either side and one in front, appearing like an imitation of a flock of birds. They wore red and gold kimonos, embellished with the print of golden dragons, and carried gilded katanas which they now drew out and pointed at the Akatsuki. Kisame scoffed, staring at the ludicrously lavish display of their appearance.

"You must be from that ridiculous golden house." He said, "Pretty boys."

"Correct," A voice carried from every direction. They watched as another ninja appeared at the back of the formation. This one wore the same uniform, but his was coloured black and a cold, bright blue to match his eyes. His hair fell low to the ground, again nauseatingly decorated with pale, yellow orchids and gold. He smiled thinly at the Akatsuki, letting his chakra wash over them in a challenge.

"Hirohito." The woman muttered behind them.

"Kasuga dear, why are you so keen to leave me?" The man said cloyingly, earning a glare from Kisame, "Prisons are meant for prisoners. You shouldn't want to leave, now should you?"

The woman, Kasuga, said nothing. Simply watched the man. Hirohito certainly wasn't one to play around, Kisame noticed. His chakra was immense, palpable even at the distance they were standing. The longer he studied it, however, the more he realized that it was not Hirohito's own chakra that was so overwhelming. It was Kagura's energy inside of him. If her presence could be likened to drizzle then Hirohito was a hurricane, a typhoon of destructive proportions. Kisame rested Samehada on his shoulder, studying Hirohito's little command, formulating strategies in his mind.

"You will go to the right?" He asked Itachi.

The Uchiha's eyes swept over the scene, but his answer was directed at the woman. "Kasuga," he said, "You said you would tell us how to kill him. It would be prudent to do so yourself."

When Kasuga still hadn't answered, he turned to look at her, surprised as she limped past him and Kisame straight at the Kanemura ninja in front of them.

"There's no point," she rasped, still limping pitifully, "You couldn't ever defeat him if you tried. It would be best for you to go."

The opposing ninja relaxed their positions, seemingly under the impression that the fight was over before it had even begun. Kisame stared after the woman, bloodlust creeping into his muscles, urging him to rend her retreating back in two.

"Like hell we will!" He roared, "Come back here!"

Hirohito laughed. "I'm afraid she answers to no one but me, Akatsuki. If you attempt to steal someone's pet you could at least test its obedience to its master beforehand. Idiots." He said as an offhand to his ninja. They laughed along with him.

Kasuga tripped and fell to the ground before the ninja, her chakra near its limit. It seemed she couldn't even stand straight anymore. Hirohito stopped laughing at that, and an ugly scowl stretched his face. "Get up, you bitch!" He screwed up his hand in a fist, and threw it forward, flinging a thin blade of chakra at her. It caught her mouth, splitting her lips with a thin slice that bled onto the dust below her. Calmly, Kasuga raised herself. Kisame was getting angrier and angrier with every second. The wench wasn't even standing up for herself. Bristling, he gripped Samehada's handle.

"No way. No fucking way," He growled. He was about to tear off into the ninja crowd, when Itachi's voice cut through his thoughts. _Kisame! This is not our fight any longer._ He stopped himself, and gaped at the younger man. "Leader will kill us."

He looked back, glaring daggers at the wench's back. She had finally reached the V-formation and was making her way along it, closer to Hirohito. The bastard smiled smugly, catching Kisame's eye. "Looks like you're a bitch, just like her." Kasuga came to stand next to him, and he wound his hand in her matted hair, pulling her to face the Akatsuki. Kasuga met Kisame's eye and murmured in her rasping voice: "It's always best to listen to your master, Kisame."

With that said, she drew back her arm and spun around to slam it into Hirohito's chest. "But you were never my master." Hirohito seemed scandalised by her action and her words, and made to slap her away when blood bubbled up his throat and his words died with the rivulets that spilled from his mouth. He looked down, to see Kasuga's arm embedded between his ribs up to her elbow.

She drew her hand out, sticky blood dripping from her fingers, and watched him die.

* * *

_Hi, everyone! I hope you have enjoyed :) This is just something I'm trying out, hopefully I can keep Kasuga's story going. Any comments/criticisms are welcome!_


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